On St. Brigid’s Day in Ireland it is customary to make reed crosses named after the saint. But, if like me, you live in the city, it is not easy to find an abundant supply of reeds. In America, reeds and rushes don’t grow as prolifically as in the wet soil of my homeland.

Determined to mark this day by making some crosses with my kids, I decided pipe cleaners would be the best solution. ‘Chenille stem’ seems to be the new name for this trusted craft supply. Add a little glitter and a good old pipe cleaner is transformed into a chenille stem.

To make your cross you will need 18 or 22 stems, depending on how big you’d like to make the center square of your cross.

Lay one stem straight and bend all others, except one, in half. Cut the last one in four equal pieces for binding the ends of each arm of the cross.

Step 1: Loop one bent stem around the center of the vertical stem, pointing the ends to the right.

Step 2: Loop the next bent stem around the first arm, pointing upwards.

Step 3: The next bent stem is looped around the upward arm, pointing to the left.

Step 4: The final arm is created by pointing a bent stem downwards around the left arm.

Repeat these four steps 3 or 4 times to expand your cross, starting each round on the right and underneath the arm.

The final stem must be secured. Pull the last loop of the right arm back a little, and slot the last stem downwards and through this hole. Re-tighten each loop.

Secure the end of each arm using a small piece of pipe cleaner.

And there you have it, a St. Brigid’s Cross made with pipe cleaners, even if it’s a little more glittery than the saint’s original.

We got a little carried away this morning, making big ones and small ones, multicolored and glittery crosses. But let’s face it. St. Brigid loved a good party, so I think she would approve of a little sparkle.

Happy St. Brigid’s Day to all.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

P.S. Thanks to Maureen at “Make Time For Nature” for her lovely photo of St. Brigid’s crosses made with reeds.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s giveaway for a custom made piece of alphabet photo art by Letters From Ireland. It was lovely to hear the inspirational words readers would use to create their own unique piece of artwork.

A big thank you to Letters From LLC for graciously sponsoring the prize for our lucky winner…..

Margaret

who said:

“Lovely idea. I would ask the artist to produce a piece that reads “Dungarvan” my husband’s hometown ~ it would be the perfect gift for him.”

Congratulations, Margaret. I will send you an e-mail to arrange to send your prize.

A big thanks to everyone who commented and supported this giveaway. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend.

This Thanksgiving weekend MyIrelandBox, a subscription service providing monthly Irish craft surprises from Ireland, has graciously sponsored another giveaway for Irish American Mom readers.

Based in a pretty little town on the western coast of the Emerald Isle, MyIrelandBox curates the best of Irish made crafts, delivering monthly surprises directly to your door.

Our previous MyIrelandBox giveaway for St. Patrick’s Day was a huge success with many wonderful responses. Readers told us about their favorite Irish crafts and why they love Ireland. You can read that post and learn more about this innovative service here.

As the Christmas season gets underway, MyIrelandBox is providing one November craft box and one December craft box to two lucky winners of our giveaway.

The wonderful world of Irish made crafts and the talented artists who devote their lives to the creative process are introduced to subscribers each month. The MyIrelandBox team scour Ireland and thoughtfully curate the best of Irish crafts.

Dingle – Home of the MyIrelandBox Team

Here at Irish American Mom I love to support Irish and American artists, writers, and small businesses by helping spread the word about their incredible work.

MyIrelandBox shares that vision by introducing subscribers to new and unusual Irish crafts, they might otherwise not be able to buy. Each box includes background information and personal stories about the Irish artists whose products are chosen for each monthly surprise.

This holiday season MyIrelandBox is offering a three month subscription for anyone hoping to surprise someone special for Christmas. Orders can be placed right up until Christmas Eve, with the first gift boxes arriving in early January.

The Giveaway:

One lucky winner will receive the November craft box and another will be surprised by the Christmas-themed December box.

To enter just leave a comment on this blog post by noon on Saturday, December 7th, 2013. Any comment will do but if you need inspiration why not tell us what Christmas crafts, trinkets or treasures you cherish most.

A winning comment will be chosen randomly. Remember to leave your e-mail so that I can contact you should you win. Your e-mail won’t be published or shared, just used to contact our two lucky contestants.

Winners will be announced on Saturday December 7th, so MyIrelandBox can get the winners’ prizes on their way for Christmas.

Best wishes to all our contestants.

Féile Na hAltaithe Shona Daoibh,

(Happy Thanksgiving)

Irish American Mom

P.S. Irish American Mom receives no remuneration from My Ireland Box, who graciously provide these prizes free of charge. I feature this wonderful gift idea as a way to promote and support Irish businesses and crafts people.

Letters From Ireland offers custom-made alphabet photo art using unique images captured throughout Ireland. Today I am delighted to introduce you to this creative and imaginative art work, and to offer you a chance to win your very own piece of fabulous art, inspired by my homeland.

Alphabet photo art, or alphabet photography, is the practice of finding letters of the alphabet in architecture, nature, and the world around us. These letters are framed together in a collage to spell out a word or name of your choice.

July 2017 – The links on this post have been disabled

since this business is no longer operational.

Slainte

From weddings to housewarmings, birthdays, new babies, or “just because,” a piece of framed photo art by Letters From Ireland makes a unique, thoughtful gift and a distinctive addition to any home.

Initially photographs taken in Italy inspired these artistic creations, but as interest grew a second location was sought for an alphabetic photo shoot.

Ireland was an easy and exciting choice. Images were collected throughout a two week tour of the rolling green hills, winding lanes, and charming cities and towns of Ireland.

At each stop during their Irish tour, the creators of these pictures were blown away by the beauty of the countryside, and the warm welcome, hospitality, and personality of its people. It’s always lovely to hear from visitors who have experienced a genuine welcome during their Irish trip.

Patrick

Here is a quotation from their website:

“From the colorful buildings and doorways lining the streets,

to the bustling pubs, to the majestic green cliffs and blue

waters, Ireland is a country alive with color and character. We

had an amazing time collecting this alphabet art, and we hope

you will enjoy our photography as a unique perspective into

the timeless beauty of this country.”

The creators truly discovered Ireland, revealing letters of the alphabet hidden in the unique beauty of nature, architecture, and everyday objects of the Emerald Isle. All of their photos are authentic originals, and are never staged.

But here’s the good news. You can create your own unique piece. The process is completely personalized. Choose a special name or word for your frame. Then choose the photographs, frame style, and mat color to complete your one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Frame a treasured family name, a new married name, or the name of a child or new baby. Or, choose a word that inspires you. These art pieces make great gifts for weddings, anniversaries, Mother’s or Father’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, or housewarmings. Your imagination is the limit!

Each piece of Letters From Ireland art is handcrafted using beautiful, high quality materials meant for a lifetime of display. While all of the photographs used to create these stunning works of art were captured in Ireland, all products are made in America, using American materials. Currently, shipping is available only throughout the 48 lower states in the US.

Hannah

The Giveaway:

Letters From LLC has generously sponsored a giveaway for Irish American Mom’s readers. Our lucky winner will be awarded one customized frame, which may be personalized by choosing a frame from the Classic Collection, any mat, and photographs.

Photographs are available in color, black and white, or sepia. Any name or word between 3 and 9 letters long may be chosen for this frame.

Fully framed artwork can only be sent to US addresses located within the 48 contiguous states. This is due to the size of the artwork, and high international shipping costs. If readers located outside the USA (or Alaska/Hawaii) would like to enter, the sponsor can send them unframed photographs, but will not be able to send a frame.

To enter our giveaway just leave a comment on this blog post by noon on Saturday, November 30th, 2013. You can leave any comment you wish. What you write does not affect your chances of winning.

If you need some inspiration, why not tell us what word you would choose to represent Ireland in a custom piece of art.

A winning comment will be chosen randomly. Remember to leave your e-mail so I can contact you should you win. E-mails won’t be published or shared, just used to contact our prizewinner.

I’ll announce the winner on Saturday November 30th, in a separate blog post. I’ll send an e-mail to the lucky entrant so we can connect for address exchange, instructions on how to order your artwork, and mailing of the prize.

How To Follow Letters From:

If your name doesn’t pop out of the hat for this giveaway, why not follow Letters From on Facebook. More giveaways will be posted there for the Holidays.

Best of luck to all our entrants and a big thank you to Letters From LLC for sponsoring this fabulous giveaway.

Slán agus beannacht leat!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

P.S. Irish American Mom does not have a business relationship with Letters From LLC, and received no remuneration for this post. Giveaway posts are designed to promote small businesses, especially those with a link to Ireland. Letters From Ireland graciously provided this prize free of charge.

The ancient Irish were accomplished goldsmiths. The earliest golden ornaments discovered in Ireland date back as far as 2000 B.C. Lunulae were thinly beaten sheets of metal worn around the neck by our noble predecessors.

Tara Brooch

Celtic craftsmen from the first millenium created astonishingly beautiful artifacts like the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch, with an extremely high level of intricacy.

These ancient Celtic creative skills continue to flourish on our island to this very day.Paul F. Kelly, a master goldsmith working in County Kerry, creates distinctive pieces of jewelry, in gold and silver, often combining both materials with precious or semi-precious stones.

Today, I am delighted to publish a guest post by this accomplished artist, to introduce you to his wonderful work. His Ring of Kerry design is just perfect for anyone seeking a piece of Irish jewelry to mark a special occasion such as a wedding or anniversary.

The Ring of Kerry:

Hi, my name is Paul Kelly. I’m a gold and silversmith living and working in the town of Kenmare, Ireland. I’ve been asked to share with you the story behind my latest jewellery creation, the Ring of Kerry.

Living as I do in the southwest of Ireland, I am constantly inspired by the beauty of the landscape around me. The greens and golds of the mountains, the silver and blue of the sea and sky, the fierce balance between the elements, all led me to create my Ring of Kerry.

The Ring of Kerry is actually two separate torc rings, that when worn together symbolize the connection between its owner and the Kerry landscape. The bands are made of silver and 18-carat yellow gold, one set with a faceted green emerald, the other with a brilliant-cut white diamond.

Most people who come to Kerry enjoy a very happy and memorable time here, and my Ring of Kerry design captures that spirit and emotion. Customers I have shown the ring to have had a very strong and positive reaction to it.

The special associations with the place are already there – through the time people have shared together, the landscape, the sea, the weather, the light, even the place they’ve stayed in and the food they’ve eaten. The Ring of Kerry symbolizes and encapsulates that experience; it genuinely seems to touch an emotional chord.

Even though I’ve lived in Kerry for many years now, I still occasionally have to stop my bike or pull over in my car and really take it all in. It can be a sunset or sunrise, the colors on the mountains, even simply the movements of the clouds on the water.

I hope you can come see me at my shop in Kenmare, or you can learn more about the Ring of Kerry at my website.

As a special gift to readers of this blog, you can use the Coupon Code IRISHMOM to receive a 10% discount off your order.

About Paul F. Kelly, Master Goldsmith:

Master goldsmith and jewellery designer Paul F Kelly produces handcrafted originals at his workshop in Kenmare. He works in gold and silver, often combining both materials with precious or semi-precious stones, to create one of the most distinctive and inspiring jewelry collections in Ireland. A master traditional craftsman, Paul can be found working at his bench shaping and molding his designs or consulting with clients about a commissioned piece.

Wishing Paul every success as he continues to design and create such magnificent masterpieces, and a big thank you to him for so generously providing a discount for readers of Irish American Mom.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

P.S. My Disclosure: I do not have a business relationship with Paul F. Kelly and received no compensation for this post. I simply wish to spread the word about Irish and Irish American artists throughout the world.